First Nations Making Deals to Secure a Piece of the Cannabis Pie

Just upriver from downtown Montreal, the Kahnawake First Nation council office takes pride of place in the reserve’s modest skyline, along with a youth centre and a pair of churches.

Soon, however, these old edifices may all be dwarfed by a sprawling, state-of-the-art greenhouse sprouting with cannabis plants and buzzing with cultivators of Canada’s newest legal commodity.

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake has signed a non-binding agreement with Canopy Growth Corp. The potential deal would see the First Nation host a 4,650-square-metre production facility, plus a processing and packaging space nearly half that size, in partnership with Canada’s largest cannabis company.